Tag Archives: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Perfecting Chicken Tortilla Soup

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on marble board 625 sq F CCI recently had a bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup that knocked my socks off! Well, actually, it knocked my sandals off, since said soup was slurped at Masa restaurant in Naples Florida.

I have made Chicken Tortilla Soup at home several times, and while it has always been pleasant, it was nothing like Masa’s. There was a depth of flavour, an earthy almost smoky thing going on with the broth. It had more body than my soup, but it was not what you would call a thick creamy broth, just enough substance to feel hearty. The first spoonful seemed mild when it first hit the palate, but after swallowing there was a pleasant tingling of residual heat.

There was a beautiful hit of acid from fresh lime juice and each spoonful delivered a perfect bite of moist shredded chicken, creamy diced avocado, fresh cilantro, crunchy fried tortilla strips and that earthy broth. While the rest of the meal was good, I couldn’t stop thinking about that soup. I wanted to recreate it at home. An Internet search, comparing various recipes gave me the first clue as to what I needed to do.

Chile powder alone will not produce an earthy complex broth. A combination of  whole dried chiles, dried chile powder and fresh jalapeños will allow you to pull off a stellar broth. For my whole dried chiles, I settled on Ancho (pictured below on the left) and New Mexico (on the right).dried chile peppersAncho chiles (dried poblano peppers) have enough heat to be zesty but not scorch. New Mexico chiles are also mildly hot with an earthy chile flavour and undertone of wild cherries. Whole dried chiles require a bit of work. First, they need to be toasted in a dry pan, for a minute or two. Then, I split them open and removed the seeds and ribs, as I wanted subtle heat, just enough to make you gently glow but not enough to produce a sweat. Next, they are soaked in some hot water to soften them.hydrating dried chilesHeat settled, I moved onto the broth. I discovered that several recipes called for adding 2-3 fresh corn tortillas to the broth to help thicken it. Onions, garlic, fresh jalapeños and spices are cooked in a bit of vegetable oil to soften them. Then the whole lot gets whizzed in the blender, along with the fresh corn tortillas, the softened dried chiles, some chicken stock and half the canned tomatoes. This creates a broth with body and substance.adding tortillasbase pureedA rotisserie chicken from the supermarket is a great time saver. I also added some frozen corn to simmer in the soup with the shredded chicken. The sweet crunch from corn is always a welcome addition.timesaving rotisserie chicken While the soup was simmering, I cut some fresh corn tortillas into strips and fried them in vegetable oil. While flour tortillas are easy to find, it takes a bit more resourcefulness to hunt down corn tortillas, but the search is worthwhile. I found them at a Latin market. Sometimes your local supermarket will have them in the freezer section. You can also just buy some tortilla chips and use those for garnish, but frying your own is so much more delicious and people are always so impressed when you say you made them yourself!slicing tortillas into stripsfrying tortilla strips

3 bowls

Click here to print recipe for Classic Chicken Tortilla Soup.

in bowl on placemat

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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When my oldest son left to go to University 5 years ago, I felt a deep sense of grief. I got so weepy every time I passed his empty bedroom that I had to shut the door. That sense of loss passed within a few weeks and we all got back to normal. Two years later, my middle child went off to Israel for a Gap year after high school. That sense of loss returned and I felt empty again. Her bedroom door also had to be closed, but this time the cause was mostly mess and not grief!  When my third child, the baby (now 19) moved out this past May, I followed him and moved in with him. No, I’m not making this up. I actually did sleep there for the first week. But that’s a story for another time!

Eventually I returned home. I must admit I enjoyed the sounds of silence in the house. However, it was short-lived. A week later, my middle one returned home from college for the summer.

But it is now September and all the chicks have flown the coop! I must admit that rather than feeling that deep sense of loss, I am filled with pride and joy in watching my kids make this transition successfully. That being said, when they all come home to visit, and the whole family is together under one roof, I just get that feeling that everything is good and right with the world. My friend Sharon says, that she sleeps better when all her little chicks are tucked in at home. I know just what she means.

For me, one of the biggest transitions has been learning to cook for just 2 people again. My husband will often come home and look at the big bowls and platters on the table and ask me who else is coming for dinner. One of my favourite strategies is to cook a roast chicken and eat half of it one night and then use the leftover in an entirely new way the next day. I will admit that even food writers get lazy and occasionally buy a Rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 

With half a roast chicken as leftovers you are well on your way to creating any number of delicious dinners. I found a fantastic recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup in the Ottawa Citizen Food section (September 13). The recipe, posted by Laura Robin, was created by Foodland Ontario. . As with most soups, you start with some diced onions. In the spirit of September and back to school, here is a little onion dicing lesson.

Peppers, red bell and jalapeno, add sweetness and heat.

If field fresh tomatoes are available, use them, if not, go for canned italian plum tomatoes. There is a bit of prep work involved in using fresh tomatoes. They need to be blanched, peeled and diced. Remove the cores and cut a little “X” in the other end. Gently place them in boiling water for a minute and the skins will slip off easily.

Cumin, oregano and chipotle chili powder combine to give this soup its distinctive flavour. Once all the ingredients are chopped, the soup comes together in less than 30 minutes.  

Corn and diced cooked chicken get added during the last 5 minutes of cooking. A squeeze of lime juice gives the soup a fresh acidic vibe.

Finish off with some freshly chopped cilantro and a few tortilla chips for crunch! A perfect dinner all in one bowl.

Click here to print recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup.